December Daily 2011 | The Foundation Pages, Part One

Today I'll be sharing some of my foundation pages (the base pages that I set up in advance to simplify the process of documenting in December). I'm still waiting on a couple items from the Studio Calico kit - namely the letterpress number coasters and the American Crafts letter stickers. As soon as I get those into my album I'll share the second set of pages.

TWO | There's no right or wrong way to approach this project. Find a groove for yourself and go with it. I liked my general design approach in 2010 (see below) so I'm repeating a lot of those elements again:

THREE | I loved the size last year which is why I'm repeating it again this year - well almost - this year my foundation pages are 6x8.5 inches. In looking back at my album from 2010 I felt like this size was really great for both the photos and the words. I definitely might be ready for a change up again in 2012. You can view all my pages from 2010 in my Flickr Gallery here.

FOUR | This project is always a great opportunity to use what you have at home. As in year's past, there is a kit available - this year it's through Studio Calico. As you'll see below I'm using a combination of things that I have on hand and pieces from the kit.

FIVE | This is a daily project. My approach is to highlight one story per day. Some days it's a holiday related story and other days it's something entirely not related to Christmas. For me it's about documenting our lives during the season. Maybe you want to approach it this year as a gratitude album - pick one thing you're thankful for each day and highlight that. Or maybe you just want to highlight specific special stories as they come up vs. daily documentation. Again, it's completely up to you. My hope is to simply encourage you to get some of these special moments and stories of the season recorded.

SIX | I'm planning to continue Project Life right on through December. For December Daily I usually choose just one story per day. Since there are definitely more than one story each day I know I'll be able to find some good bits of life to continue adding to Project Life over the course of the month.

SEVEN | Sometimes people see my foundation pages and say, "there's not a lot there." And you're right. There's not a lot. But what I've done is set myself up with a solid foundation to build upon during December. By having at least some of the work done in advance I'm not trying to do everything (printing pages, choosing products, etc) during December. I know from past experience that setting myself up in this way has lead to a much better chance of success in getting my stories told.

In thinking about my own album this year here's some things that were top of mind for me in terms of design:

Calm. Whites, creams, silver with a little bit of red and green.

Stitching. I love the look of both machine and hand-stitching on paper. This is the machine I use: Brother XL2600I. It was recommended by Mary Ann Moss who runs an awesome class called Remains Of The Day among other cool creative adventures.

Glitter/sparkle. I'm going to argue that glitter can still be calm. Think twinkle lights vs. Times Square.

Stars. I found as I was looking through my stash of holiday supplies that I had a bunch of star stuff I've been accumulating. It started to become a theme I was excited about and I'm going with it.

Photo & Story-centric. Just like last year I plan to include quite a few full page photos again. Looking back through my 2010 album it's one of my favorite parts.

Along the edges of each of the Hambly pages I added some ribbons/twill/lace from my stash or an Avery 2-inch plastic tab.

They ended up looking something like this.

I put them in order, starting with a 4-pocket page followed by one of each of the Hambly transparent designs. I repeated that throughout the album.

Here's a look at how the pages came together. Remember, today I'm just sharing some of the pages - the rest will come later this week when I get some additional items from the Studio Calico kit.

DAY ONE

My album begins with a 4-pocket page with a variety of star-focused embellishments.

I was inspired by this image found on Pinterest (confetti pockets) and wanted to do something similar with a few small gold stars (and also keep it in mind for things to add later in the month). After sticking the little goodies inside I stitched the pocket closed with my sewing machine.

The Bingo Place Card isn't stitched in but the rest of the embellishments have a line of stitching about 1/8-1/4 inch from the top.

Since this is Day One I ended up with the 4-pocket page plus a Hambly insert. All other spreads have just one insert in between the pages (as you'll see below).

I ran the paper from the Avery 2-inch plastic tab through my typewriter. It's an old one I picked up at an estate sale - super fun to play with for projects like this.

For most of the days throughout the month I'll be adding pattern paper along the bottom in the space designated on the 2011 December Daily Overlay Package. I liked doing that during the month last year rather than in advance. Each of my days from 1 through 25 has a printed piece of cardstock ready to go. I'll add photos, ephemera and stories directly onto this cardstock throughout the month.

Again, it's essentially the same format as last year - just a little taller and with the red option included in the package (and the days/dates correct for 2011). My plan is to also use the 6x8.5 December Daily Layered Templates as the companion page to these overlays. This is very similar to what I did last year.

DAY THREE

Sometimes instead of an actual number I'm showing a certain number of something. In this case, three of the Jenni Bowlin Red Doily Flowers. This tends to be easier to do in the smaller numbers.

DAY SEVEN

DAY EIGHT

DAY THIRTEEN

DAY FOURTEEN

For Day Fourteen I grabbed a small manila tag, adhered a couple of the Jenni Bowlin Red And Black alphabet stickers and used a Studio Calico Mister Huey (exclusive to the kit) to spray on top. After the ink dried I pull off the number stickers and stitched the tag onto the ribbon/transparency combo.

DAY EIGHTEEN

DAY NINETEEN

DAY TWENTY-ONE

Red number tags from Every Jot And Tittle. I think I've used these circle numbers in almost every one of my December Daily albums. Love that I've been able to use them from year to year (different numbers in different years).

audra

2011-11-02 12:20:55 -0400

I have a question - If I'd like to make my format similiar to yours do I need an additional 6 of the SC page protectors - Or does what I need come with the kit itself? The other question is, the overlays that come with the SC kit are 6x12 is that right? I was able to order additional Hambly overlays any tips on how to cut & measure those to work out (that's not my favorite - the measuring lol!)

Ali

2011-11-02 13:20:52 -0400

Hi Audra - I added 6, 8.5x11 divided page protectors that I cut down so it fit into the album with four pockets (not in the kit). The overlays that come with the kit are 12x12 - I included a drawing above that shows the measurements for cutting the Hambly transparencies.

audra

2011-11-02 14:48:52 -0400

Thanks Ali! Good to know I can cut down the additional page protectors. Also, I did see where you showed the diagram of the overlays cut down - HUGE HELP! I had it in my head that the ones coming in the kit were an odd size for some reason. Thanks again, looking forward to seeing the rest of yours & for all my goodies to arrive so I can begin!

Liz Sawyer

2011-11-02 13:09:23 -0400

SOOOOO excited for this year's project... just anxiously awaiting my package from Studio Calico to combine together with a bunch of kraft colored items from Tim Holtz, white & red as my theme. Have never done the pre-assembly so really hoping to do that this year & have a night when my husband is out of town blocked out for some crafty time while listening to Christmas music!

Studio Calico Paper Bag Album: Sneaks &ndash; Angee Lee Butler

Nancy

2011-11-02 21:26:56 -0400

Hi Ali,
I'm very excited to be creating a December Daily album again - this will be my second. 2010 was my first.

The only thing left to do on my 2010 album is to punch the binding holes and add my rings. But I'm paralyzed with fear that I will mess this up! Can you please provide some advice on how deep from the edge I should punch the holes?

Hannah

2011-11-03 01:01:27 -0400

Hi Ali, I'm eagerly awaiting my kit so I can get started! I have a pretty basic question- do you have any tips for punching holes in the transparent inserts so that they are all lined up properly? Last year I kept wasting them, as I found they were sliding and not punching where I thought they were going to. Then when I put them in the binder they were not in the right place.
Thanks as always for the limitless inspiration.
Hannah

December Daily Set Up &laquo; At Number 29&#8230;

Rachel Briggs

2011-11-06 11:14:44 -0500

Ali:

Is there a way for us to buy just the album and page protectors from Studio Calico rather than the entire kit? Like you, I like adding outside or found things or use up my current stash so I don't want to purchase anything that is not needed, and would just take up valuable space in my craft room.

Thanks! Can't wait for the album this year. Maybe this will the year I actually finish the physical album!! :-)

December Daily 2011 | The Foundation Pages, Part Two | Ali Edwards

Uli

2011-11-09 11:55:09 -0500

Dear Ali,
I'm so excited about doing your DD. I actually ordered the St.calico kit - and I'm still waiting for the kit. I live in Germany so it takes little longer. However, I downloaded your files from DD and started to print out the overlays. Somehow all my overlays ended up being a size 5.5 x 7 3/4 inch. I checked your tutorial and also followed your tipps but got the same result ....
Pls help ....
Thanks very much.
Uli

Michele

2011-11-11 13:48:05 -0500

Ali,
I am so excited to do the December Daily this year. I wasn't able to get the kit so I purchased the December Overlays without realizing they would opnly fit the album and page protectors that come with the kit. Is there any chance you have resized them to something more common so that anyone who wasn't able to get the kit can use them? I dont have Photoshop or Elements and was planning on using MS Word. Thanks!

Danelle Johnson

2011-11-17 10:14:56 -0500

Love seeing this come together Ali. Timeless as always. I see you still have some transparencies of mine left. I wonder if I sent you the latest ones, I can't remember. Let me know if you need more, I forget. Hope to catch up with you soon, any chance you'll be at CHA?

Ali

Robyn

2011-11-18 14:19:55 -0500

Hi Ali. This is my second year doing a December Daily album, and I just love, love, love it! My 10 year-old son thinks it's very cool as well, and it's so neat to look back over last year's album and read the little stories and comments that might otherwise be missed...

I do have a question - how did you manage to pull the pin out of the Maya Arts Trinket Pin Stars? I have tried pliers and even wire cutters, but so far no luck!

Thanks so much... As I'm sure you have been told countless times before, you are truly an inspiration. :)

Ali

welcoming the holidays &laquo; the owlchemist LLC

2011-11-23 09:26:58 -0500

[...] I get a little more crafty. Last year, I had every intention of following Ali Edwards in her December Daily challenge, but got sidetracked with loads of work. At least that was the story at the time. I think what [...]

Karen Anderson

2011-11-24 16:14:29 -0500

I love creating my DD and this year I am opting for an A5 (metric system) landscape lever arch folder. It has tons of space for a page for each day and its nice to change things up and work a bit differently - last year I used a 9" x 7" portrait lever arch folder.
The great thing about the DD project is it is so flexible, you can work digitally or with paper & glue, you can use page protectors or put pages directly into your album, you can adapt what you have or buy the kit to follow specific samples - there's something for everyone!
I'm really looking forward to December so I can start to fill my pages as they are ready to go xxx

December Daily Foundation Pages 2011 | Learn With Jenny

2011-11-27 23:22:33 -0500

[...] I’m excited to be adding a new holiday tradition this December for our family. I just completed the foundation pages of my first December Daily album. Essentially, it is a daily scrapbook/journal for the 31 days of December. This has become a very popular idea in the scrapbooking community as it was originated by Ali. [...]

Bridget

December Daily &laquo; Studio TWO 28

2011-12-01 13:37:22 -0500

[...] participates through the process on her website. You can read her first 2011 December Daily post here. And look here to find inspiration and ideas of what to include in the album. All of her December [...]

Melissa

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2014-04-26 14:05:46 -0400

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